Lord Howe Island lies approximately 700 km northeast of Sydney and southeast of Brisbane, at the same latitude as Port Macquarie, and it is part of the state of New South Wales. The Island is home to around 450 people (2021 Census), but almost doubles during peak holiday season. Lord Howe Island has been World Heritage Listed since 1982, and a State Marine Park since 1998. Lord Howe Island also has a unique legislative framework, outlined under the Lord Howe Island Act 1953. The Lord Howe Island Board (LHIB) carries out responsibilities of a local government, on top of some other responsibilities that would be managed by state or federal governments on the mainland.

In late 2022, LHIB approached us about assisted them in developing an updated Community Strategic Plan (CSP). A CSP summarises the community’s long-term vision for their place and strategies for working toward that vision.

LPC was engaged to support development of the CSP, and develop or update their suite of operational documents that support the delivery of the strategies in the CSP. It was important that CSP reflected the community’s values and vision, responds to the unique planning and budget arrangements on Lord Howe Island and meets the needs of LHIB.

We worked closely wih LHIB to ensure that we were developing a CSP that would work for them. Many objectives and strategies that we developed based on communtiy values and desires were outside of LHIB’s remit, so it was important to clearly define who would be responsible for delivery on each item.

The final CSP was endorsed and published in late 2024. 

After finalising the CSP, we supported LHIB in summarising where engagement feedback and information from the organisation had identified ideas for actions. This process helped to kickstart the next step for LHIB in implementing the CSP, which included a review of current services and commitments, strategic priorities for the Board, and operational planning.

Sunshine Coast Council is investing in the future of Mooloolaba with a major foreshore revitalisation project to create more beachfront parkland, new community facilities, improve access to the beach and foreshore and enhance coastal protection for the benefit of residents, visitors and businesses.

The Mooloolaba Foreshore Revitalisation Project is an outcome of the 2015 Master Plan. Stage 1 of the project was completed in 2022, upgrading the northern foreshore parkland.

When the project was ready to move into delivery of Stage 2 of construction, Council engaged LPC to work with Council to plan and facilitate meetings to update the Mooloolaba community and business community about the construction process. A key objective of the Business Activation Group was to work with Council and a placemaking consultant to develop a Business Activation Plan that would support activate the precinct and support businesses during construction.

Major works on Stage 2 of the Mooloolaba Foreshore Revitalisation started in mid-July 2025. Construction work will be staged through to the project’s estimated completion date of late 2026 or early 2027.

In preparation for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Queensland Government has identified the Moreton Bay Indoor Sports Centre (MBISC) as a key Games venue. The MBISC’s planned location is the Mill precinct at Petrie.
The MBISC is planned to have 12 indoor playing courts across two halls, the centre will be able to host various sports including basketball, netball, volleyball, badminton, futsal, pickleball, gymnastics and wheelchair rugby. MBISC will have capacity of up to 10,000 spectators.

 

The MBISC PVR was granted a ‘green light’ at Gateway Review. The quality of the engagement was mentioned as a contributing factor for the review body confidently progressing the project to the next stage.

The MBISC is currently in the procurement stage.

 

Gladstone Regional Council’s planning scheme, Our Place Our Plan, commenced on 12 October 2015 and was amended on 3 July 2017 (version 2). The planning scheme was prepared by Gladstone Regional Council (GRC) with a 17-year planning horizon to 2031. Our Place Our Plan was the first planning scheme prepared for the amalgamated local government areas of Calliope, Gladstone and Miriam Vale.

The project team, led by Reel Planning, with LPC sub-contracted to design and deliver engagement, commenced the 10-year review of the scheme in November 2023. The review’s primary aim was to provide a recommendation to Council on the best pathway (new planning scheme, major or minor amendment) to ensure that the scheme remains contemporary and reflects local social, economic and environmental conditions.

The Gladstone Region covers 10,489m2, from Curtis Island in the north to Rosedale in the south. The Region’s size and topography, covering coastline as well as a significant area classed as rural, means that its communities are significantly varied in terms priorities, scale of development and level of engagement with Council activities. Additionally, the project’s engagement commenced in the lead-up to the 2024 Queensland local government elections, meaning high levels of scrutiny from both internal and external key stakeholders.

 

We used a mix of quantitative and qualitative data analysis techniques to develop a clear, insightful and data-driven understanding of community and stakeholder values and their experience interacting with the planning scheme.

The engagement process identified where community and stakeholder values aligned and where they diverged. While community members expressed concerns that what they love about the Region may be lost, industry stakeholders were more concerned about the economic landscape from the energy transition. This feedback outlined the desire for change to the planning scheme.

The Planning Scheme Review report recommended opportunities to strengthen alignment with recent local and state policy, update mapping and studies that serve as the scheme’s foundation and reflect emerging trends throughout the Gladstone Region.

LPC was engaged to design and deliver an in-person roundtable discussion between Council and stakeholders in the industry. The purpose of the session was to inform Council’s efforts to achieving a zero emissions goal for transport and commitment to overall carbon neutrality.

Brisbane Pathway to Zero Emissions Transport Roundtable discussed potential actions to support the city’s private sector and residents achieve Council’s Transport Plan for Brisbane. Options included facilitating ownership of electric vehicles through strategic provision of public charging stations.

To meet the growing demand for electric vehicle charging and stated goals of utilising available ‘green’ technologies, results from discussions helped determine community priorities for charging types and locations.

A close-out survey was shared before the close of the session captured individual feedback, providing insights into the degree to which the expectations for the session had been met.

The survey results revealed:

• 90% of participants thought the session was of high to very high personal value.
• 90% of participants thought the session met fully or exceeded their expectations.
• 60% or participants indicated that they had increased to greatly increased their knowledge and understanding of the opportunities and challenges of enabling the uptake of electric vehicles.

Sunshine Coast Council proposed the Memorial Drive Streetscape project in 2020, with the primary goal of improving the infrastructure and livability of the area. In 2023, the Sunshine Coast Council engaged Leisa Prowse Consulting to plan and facilitate an in-person community workshop, with the goal of enabling discussion amongst different community groups. This was a part of the detailed design phase of the project.

We worked collaboratively with the Council Placemaking team to understand the context of the project, especially the common themes that emerged out of Council’s initial online workshop.

The social and historical context of Eumundi a key element of the engagement. Community dynamics in Eumundi were carefully considered during the workshop design process, particularly the differences in perspective between local residents and market visitors.

LPC worked with the project team to understand outcomes from the engagement during preliminary design and pre-existing concerns to ensure that the workshop would allow the community to share diverse perspectives. Pre-existing community concerns included concerns about tailoring the design to the character of Eumundi and retaining the significance of Memorial Drive.

At the end of the workshop attendees reflected on the day and provided the following observations:

• The workshop created a stronger sense of connection between Eumundi community stakeholders and Council’s project team.
• The opportunity to listen to more detailed information was very valuable.
• The project focuses on three areas which have been designed to ensure heritage is acknowledged and built in.
• Everyone was respectful at the workshop.
• The project team have been sensitive to Eumundi.
• The understanding developed during the workshop will help to keep communication with the community open.
• The detailed design ‘book’ used at the workshop was ‘brilliant’ and helped explain the project. There was a view that it is an historical document that could be shared with the community in the future.

Workshop attendees also:

• Indicated that they felt grateful to be able to participate and help lead for the future of Eumundi
• Thanked Council for the extra investment in community engagement, particularly the workshop, declaring it had been worth it
• Indicated that they felt understood and energised
• Raised the idea of working with Council to develop a ten-year masterplan for Eumundi.

At the conclusion of the placemaking workshop, evaluation sheets were given to participants to hear their feedback about the workshop. Many participants stated that they left the workshop with an acceptance of the project, and many more remarked that they gained a positive perspective about the potential benefits that the streetscape project could bring to Eumundi.

The workshop facilitated conversations that broke down pre-existing beliefs and enabled community members to connect not only with the council, but also with each other.

The streetscape project is currently under construction.

The South East Queensland Regional Plan Shaping SEQ identified Caboolture West as a major expansion growth area, and included a priority action to plan for region-shaping infrastructure, including frequent public transport services. The Caboolture West Passenger Transport Strategy provided a long-term passenger transport strategy to guide the development of public transport networks, infrastructure and services to planned future growth.

LPC worked with Bitzios Consulting to support the delivery of the stakeholder engagement. The engagement process ensured key community and stakeholder insights informed project outcomes. LPC worked collaboratively with key stakeholders to understand and align expectations about the future of passenger transport in Caboolture West and build acceptance and ownership of the passenger transport strategy. The engagement process identified future transport demands and predicted travel patterns while exploring additional operational needs, challenges and opportunities.

LPC and Bitzios Consulting took a flexible approach to delivery, including pivoting to online delivery of the Technical Working Group meetings. Due to COVID-19 pandemic precautions, we moved to an online workshop approach. We received positive feedback from TWG members about the balance of collaborative activities with structured information sharing and facilitation.

The TWG provided key insights on design and planning matters.

Leisa Prowse Consulting was engaged by Brisbane City Council (Council) to facilitate a series of workshops to explore stakeholder insights and co-design recommendations for the Safe Travel Together – Heavy Vehicle and Bike Rider Education and Awareness Campaign.

Brisbane’s population has experienced significant growth in recent years, resulting in an increase in road freight and heavy vehicle moments across the road network. During this time, the number of people who ride bikes has also increased.

Recognising the importance of ensuring safer interactions between bike riders and heavy vehicle drivers, Council has developed an education and awareness campaign. This campaign seeks to encourage respectful and positive road behaviour, and a deeper understanding of the perspectives of bike riders and heavy vehicle drivers.

The Safe Travel Together campaign has been developed using the Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative grant, which Council has received from the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator.

• Originally intended to be face-to-face, all five of the SWG workshops were delivered in an online environment in response to COVID-19 restrictions.
• Creative workshop design, which harnessed the potential of a range of online tools, coupled with robust facilitation ensured open discussion of different perspectives, ideas and insights during the SWG workshops, and strengthened relationships amongst stakeholder groups.
• Prepared a draft campaign recommendations document to support Council’s delivery of the education and awareness campaign.
• Prepared a process and finding document, and a process flow chart to ensure project learnings can be transferred to support the development of similar campaigns in places.

For a complete copy of Council’s report, please visit https://www.nhvr.gov.au/files/media/document/521/202409-1550-hvsi-403-brisbane-city-council-safe-travel-together-final-report.pdf

As the Cairns local government area (LGA) continues to grow, Cairns Regional Council (CRC) is developing a strategy to guide how this growth will be accommodated and managed.

Cairns is a large local government area and different areas within the region have very different local character and identities. These different identities can mean wide-spread community engagement processes can be challenging. It can also be challenging to engage the community in strategic planning projects, given the long timeframes. However, building widespread awareness and receiving meaningful feedback on these projects is vital. A successful engagement process can:

• communicate the opportunities that come with growth
• build acceptance within the community
• help the community understand the trade-offs required to protect their values
• build ownership of long-term statutory planning processes.

Leisa Prowse Consulting was engaged by CRC to design a community and stakeholder engagement plan to support the development of Council’s Growth Strategy.

CRC issued the engagement plan and toolkit as part of their process to procure consultancy support to develop the Growth Strategy.

Leisa Prowse Consulting, as a part of the Towards 2050 Collective, is helping CRC to deliver the community and stakeholder engagement plan and toolkit. The Towards 2050 project launched in mid-2022.

City of Moreton Bay (Council) has developed Moreton Bay’s Living Coast Plan (LCP) to:

• inform future decisions regarding the protection and management of the coast and foreshore areas
• inform future land use strategic planning
• guide the management of public utilities and facilities
• inform the management of areas of environmental and cultural significance
• foster collaboration and the shared custodianship of our coastline
• remain up to date based on implementation and new information.

The LCP will help Council, its service providers, residents and the wider community understand and plan for the likely impacts of change on the coastal landscape, with historical and future coastal hazard risks considered.

Coastal communities within the project area demonstrated a notable level of interest in the project during the initial engagement period. As part of the ongoing community and stakeholder engagement for the project, Council established a Community Reference Group (CRG) to capture local ideas and insights. Comprised of 12 community members from across the Council area, each member of the CRG has strong connections to Moreton Bay and represented a range of interests.

Through the process:

• CRG members were able to see real outcomes of potential adaptation options through use of a wave tank.
• CRG members attended a site visit and walking tour of a case study area that included different types of assets and a discussion about trade-offs in prioritising those assets (including infrastructure, private housing, recreation areas, natural environment and cultural heritage).
• CRG members discussed the impacts of recent flood events on their lives, homes and communities (Workshop 1 was postponed due to the February 2022 flood event).
• CRG members engaged in many constructive and meaningful discussions about coastal areas, coastal hazards and potential adaptation options.

At the final workshop, Leisa Prowse Consulting faciltiated a short evaluation exercise with the CRG. The most common responses indicated that:

• 70% of CRG members would like to see a new community reference group formed to support the implementation of the LCP.
• 80% of CRG members would like to be a part of this new group.
• 90% of CRG members would like to be a part of another Council CRG with a different environmental focus.

When asked what worked well in the CRG process, 60% of responses related to the workshop formats, social environment established in meetings and workshop facilitation.

By contributing to the development of the LCP, the CRG helped Council to understand how coastal hazards and anticipated changes in sea level may impact coastal communities, the local economy, the natural environment and Council operations. This information helped the Council to consider and assess the viability and preference of adaptation approaches.

In May 2023, the Living Coast Plan was endorsed by Moreton Bay Regional Council.

In October 2023, the project won the 2023 IAP2 Australasia Core Values Award (Environment).